Quick disconnect apparatus for modular tooling

ABSTRACT

A modular tooling receiver that includes a wall having a port that extends through it, an engaging member that is movably disposed in the port, and a lock actuator that is disposed on a first side of the wall. The lock actuator is moveable between a first position in which the lock actuator urges the engaging member in a first direction defined from the first side of the wall to a second side of the wall and a second position wherein the lock actuator permits the engaging member to move in a second direction defined from the second side of the wall to the first side of the wall. A first biasing element biases the lock actuator toward the first position. A damper controls a rate of motion of the lock actuator from the second position toward the first position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/044,178, which was filed on Feb. 16, 2016, which claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/116,633, which wasfiled on Feb. 16, 2015.

BACKGROUND

Industrial manufacturing operations are often performed using automatedmanufacturing equipment, such as mechanical manipulators and roboticarms. The manufacturing equipment is often fitted with tooling that isintended to perform a specific function. The tooling may be specificallyconfigured to a particular part, such that certain work holding devices,such as clamps, grippers, vacuum cups, etc. may engage and move theworkpiece. The tooling is typically designed based on the geometry ofthe part with which it is intended to be used, and tooling that isdesigned for use with a particular part usually cannot be used with adifferent part.

Removable and replaceable tooling allows manufacturing equipment to beused to manufacture parts with various configurations as opposed tobeing dedicated to one particular part configuration. However, the timeand effort needed to reconfigure manufacturing equipment from onepurpose to another must be minimized to the greatest extent possiblewithout comprising the accuracy and precision of the manufacturingequipment. In some designs, tooling is connected to the manufacturingequipment by conventional fasteners. Other designs provide quickdisconnect tooling that allows the tooling to be replaced using atwo-part coupler that can be quickly connected and disconnected. Thesetwo part couplers often include structures that align and lock to thetwo coupler parts with respect to each other without the need forspecial tools or alignment procedures. Many quick disconnect couplerdesigns are, however, costly or difficult to operate. Therefore, needremains for quick disconnect couplers that are inexpensive and simple tooperate.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure is a modular tooling receiver that includesa wall having a port that extends through it, an engaging member that ismovably disposed in the port, and a lock actuator that is disposed on afirst side of the wall. The lock actuator is moveable between a firstposition in which the lock actuator urges the engaging member in a firstdirection defined from the first side of the wall to a second side ofthe wall and a second position wherein the lock actuator permits theengaging member to move in a second direction defined from the secondside of the wall to the first side of the wall. A first biasing elementbiases the lock actuator toward the first position. A damper controls arate of motion of the lock actuator from the second position toward thefirst position.

Another aspect of the disclosure is a modular tooling receiver thatincludes a housing having an internal cavity, a cylindrical wall thatsurrounds the internal cavity and extends along a longitudinal axis, anda plurality of ports that extend through the cylindrical wall in adirection that is substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis. Aplurality of engaging members are each at least partially seated in arespective port from the plurality of ports and are moveable withrespect to the cylindrical wall. A piston is disposed within theinternal cavity. The piston has a first engagement surface formed on anouter periphery thereof and a second engagement surface formed on anouter periphery thereof, wherein the piston is movable between a firstposition and a second position with respect to the housing. The pistonis moveable between a first position in which the piston urges theengaging members in an outward direction relative to the cylindricalwall and a second position wherein the piston permits the engagingmembers to move inward relative to the cylindrical wall. A first biasingelement biases the piston toward the first position. A damper controls arate of motion of the piston from the second position toward the firstposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various other uses of the present invention will become moreapparent by referring to the following detailed description and drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a quick disconnect apparatus in adisconnected position.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the quick disconnect apparatus in apartially connected position.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the quick disconnect apparatus in aconnected position.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view showing a quick disconnect apparatus in adisconnected position.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section view showing the quick disconnect apparatus ina connected position with a release mechanism in a locked position.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view showing the quick disconnect apparatus ina connected position with a release mechanism in a release position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a receiver housing.

FIG. 8 is a cross-section view of the receiver housing.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a piston.

FIG. 10 is a cross-section view of the piston.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a coupler ring.

FIG. 12 is a cross-section view of the coupler ring.

FIG. 13 is a cross-section view of a damper.

FIG. 14 is an exploded view of the damper.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the coupler ring.

FIG. 16 is a front view of an alternative coupler ring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-3 show a quick disconnect apparatus 100 that includes a receiver110 and a coupler 180 that is removably connectable to the receiver 110.In particular, the receiver 110 and the coupler 180 are moveable betweena disconnected position (FIG. 1), wherein the receiver 110 and thecoupler 180 are not in engagement with one another, a partiallyconnected position (FIG. 2), wherein the receiver 110 is partiallyengaged with the coupler 180 but not locked to the coupler 180, and aconnected position (FIG. 3), wherein the receiver 110 and the coupler180 are in engagement with one another and are locked in a fixedrelationship with respect to one another. The quick disconnect apparatus100 may be part of a modular tooling assembly. The receiver 110 may alsobe referred to as a modular tooling receiver. The coupler 180 may alsobe referred to as a modular tooling adapter.

The quick disconnect apparatus 100 can be used to connect a basestructure 102 to a tooling assembly 104. The base structure 102 can beany structure to which an additional structure, such as the toolingassembly 104, is desired to be attached. As one example, the basestructure 102 can be automated manufacturing equipment, such as amechanical manipulator or a robotic arm. The tooling assembly 104 can beany type of tooling as needed to perform a particular function and caninclude modular tooling, such as rods, joints, connectors, couplers,fingers, and/or shovels. The base structure 102 and the tooling assembly104 can be connected to the receiver 110 and the coupler 180,respectively, using conventional elements such as fasteners 106.

In order to support the coupler 180 with respect to the receiver 110while the coupler 180 is being connected to the receiver 110, thecoupler 180 includes an elongate hook 188 and the receiver 110 includesan elongate flange 118. In the partially connected position, the coupler180 is moved into engagement with the receiver 110 by placing theelongate hook 188 over the elongate flange 118 such that a rear facingangled interior surface 189 of the elongate hook 188 is engaged with arear facing angled surface 119 of the elongate flange 118. When the rearfacing angled interior surface 189 is engaged with and angularly alignedwith (e.g. substantially coplanar with) the rear facing angled surface119, the coupler 180 is angled with respect to the receiver 110, but canthen be moved to the connected position by rotating the coupler 180toward alignment with the receiver 110, with this rotation beingcentered on the point at which the elongate hook 188 contacts theelongate flange 118.

In order to align the connection between the receiver 110 and thecoupler 180, one or more guide structures can be provided, such as atapered guide pin 112. In the illustrated example, the tapered guide pin112 is located on the receiver 110 and is received in a correspondingaperture in the coupler 180 when the receiver 110 and the coupler 180are moved to the connected position. Also, to ensure that theappropriate coupler 180 is connected to the receiver 110, mechanicalcode pins 114 can be provided on each of the receiver 110 and thecoupler 180.

When the receiver 110 and the coupler 180 are in the disconnectedposition, they can be moved to the connected position by moving thereceiver 110 and the coupler 180 toward one another. When the receiver110 and the coupler 180 are in the connected position, they can be movedto the disconnected position by first operating a release mechanism,such as a lever 116 that can be pivoted from a locked position (FIG. 5)to a release position (FIGS. 4 and 6). When the lever 116 reaches therelease position, the lock previously established between the receiver110 and the coupler 180 ceases, thus allowing the receiver 110 and thecoupler 180 to be moved away from one another, as will be explained indetail herein.

As best shown in FIGS. 4-6, the receiver 110 includes a receiver baseportion 120 that is connectable to the base structure 102. Themechanical code pins 114 are disposed in apertures 122 that are formedin the receiver base portion 120. The lever 116 is pivotally connectedto the receiver base portion 120 and is biased away from the releaseposition (FIG. 4), in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 5, by abiasing element 124, such as a torsion spring.

The receiver 110 includes a receiver housing 130, which defines aninternal cavity 132. The receiver housing 130 can extend along an axis134. The axis 134 can extend through the internal cavity 132. In theillustrated example, the internal cavity 132 is substantiallycylindrical, and the axis 134 is a central axis of the internal cavity132.

As best seen in FIGS. 7-8, the receiver housing 130 includes a base 136that is connectable to the receiver base portion 120 of the receiver110. A substantially cylindrical wall 138 extends outward from the base136 and substantially encircles the internal cavity 132. An end wall 140extends transverse to the axis 134 and extends inward from thecylindrical wall 138 opposite the base 136.

The receiver 110 includes a piston 150 that is disposed within theinternal cavity 132 of the receiver housing 130, and a biasing elementsuch as a compression spring 152 that biases the piston 150 away fromthe receiver housing 130 along the axis 134. Other suitable biasingelements include a Belleville washer stack or a block of compressibleelastic material. The rate of motion of the piston 150 away from thereceiver housing 130 is controlled by a damper 210. The damper 210 isfixed to the piston 150 and a piston rod 212 of the damper is connectedto the receiver housing 130 either directly or by a retainer 200 that isfixed to the housing by conventional fasteners or methods.

The piston 150 is engageable with a plurality of engaging members 160.In one example, the engaging members 160 are substantially sphericalmembers, such as ball bearings.

The receiver 110 further includes a bearing retainer 170 that controlsmovement of the engaging member 160 with respect to the receiver housing130. A biasing element 172 engages the bearing retainer 170 in order tobias the bearing retainer 170 away from the receiver housing 130. Asexamples, the biasing element 172 can be a compression spring, aBelleville washer stack, or a block of compressible elastic material.The bearing retainer 170 can be in the form of a ring-shaped member thatencircles the cylindrical wall 138 of the receiver housing 130 and hasan inner diameter that is complementary to the outer diameter of thecylindrical wall 138 of the receiver housing 130. In order to receivethe bearing retainer 170 and the biasing element 172, a channel 142 isformed in the base 136 of the receiver housing 130. The channel 142 canbe substantially circular and can substantially encircle the cylindricalwall 138.

In order to at least partially receive the engaging members 160, aplurality of ports or apertures 144 extend through the cylindrical wall138 of the receiver housing 130. In implementations where the engagingmembers are spherical, the apertures 144 can be substantially circularin cross-section when viewed in a direction that is substantiallyperpendicular to the surface of the cylindrical wall 138. The aperturesmay extend through the cylindrical wall in a direction that issubstantially transverse to the axis 134, such as in a radial directionrelative to the cylindrical wall 138.

In order to retain the bearing retainer 170 and the biasing element 172on the receiver housing 130 and to define a limit of travel for thebearing retainer 170, a plurality of posts 146 can extend outward fromthe cylindrical wall 138 of the receiver housing 130. The posts 146 canbe any type of projection that extends outward from the nominalperiphery of the cylindrical wall 138 of the receiver housing 130, andmay be structures such as pins or ridges or bumps. The posts 146 can beformed on the cylindrical wall 138 or can be connected to thecylindrical wall 138 by any suitable means such as by threadedengagement of the posts 146 with threaded apertures (not shown) that areformed through the cylindrical wall 138. Accordingly, the bearingretainer 170 can move between a retracted position, wherein the bearingretainer 170 is disposed in the channel 142 and does not block orobstruct the apertures 144, and an extended position, wherein thebearing retainer is engaged with the posts 146 and blocks or obstructsthe apertures 144. The biasing element 172 biases the bearing retainer170 toward the extended position.

The posts 146 are positioned at radially spaced locations around thecylindrical wall 138 of the receiver housing 130. The posts 146 may beequal in number to the apertures 144, with one of the posts 146positioned between each adjacent pair of the apertures 144.

The piston 150 is best shown in FIGS. 9-10. The piston 150 can include acylindrical wall 153 that encircles an internal cavity 154, and an endwall 156 is connected to the cylindrical wall 153 and is disposedopposite an open end of the internal cavity 154. Adjacent to the openend of the internal cavity 154 of the piston 150, a first contouredengagement surface 158 and a second contoured engagement surface 159 canbe formed around an outer periphery of the cylindrical wall 153 of thepiston 150 for engagement with the engaging members 160, as will beexplained in detail herein.

With reference to FIGS. 4-6, the piston 150 is moveable between adisengaged position (FIGS. 4 and 6) and an engaged position (FIG. 5).The piston 150 moves within the internal cavity 132 of the receiverhousing 130 along the axis 134 under the influence of the biasing forcethat is applied to the piston 150 by the compression spring 152, whichis disposed within the internal cavity 154 of the piston 150 such thatit engages the receiver housing 130 and the piston 150.

The disengaged position of the piston 150 is established when the piston150 is moved in response to engagement of the lever 116 with the piston150. In particular, when the lever 116 is moved to the release position,the lever 116 engages the piston 150 such that the compression spring152 is compressed as the piston 150 moves from the engaged positiontoward the disengaged position.

In the disengaged position, the second contoured engagement surface 159of the piston 150 is positioned adjacent to the apertures 144 in thereceiver housing 130. Because the second contoured engagement surface159 has a smaller maximum diameter than the first contoured engagementsurface 158 and is contoured such that it is complementary to theengaging members 160, the engaging members 160 are able to move inwardwith respect to the receiver housing 130 and toward the second contouredengagement surface 159 of the piston 150 when the piston 150 is in thedisengaged position. As an example, the size and shape of the secondcontoured engagement surface can allow the engaging members 160 toretract into the receiver housing 130 by a distance that is sufficientto cause the outermost portions of the engaging members to be positionedeven with or inward with respect to the cylindrical wall 138 of thereceiver housing 130. Thus, when the piston 150 is in the disengagedposition, the biasing force applied to the bearing retainer 170 by thebiasing element 172 causes the bearing retainer 170 to extend, such thatit is positioned adjacent to the apertures 144 and forces the engagingmembers 160 to move into the apertures 144 of the receiver housing 130.Once this position is established, the bearing retainer 170 maintainsthe engaging members 160 in their respective positions within theapertures 144 and as a result of engagement of the engaging members 160with the second contoured surface 159 of the piston 150, the piston 150is retained in the disengaged position after force is no longer appliedto the piston 150 by the lever 116. The disengaged position of thepiston 150 continues until the bearing retainer 170 is retracted, aswill be explained herein.

The bearing retainer 170 is moved from the extended position to theretracted position when the coupler 180 is moved into engagement withthe receiver 110 to define the engaged position. The coupler 180includes a coupler body 181, which is connected to the tooling assembly104. One or more apertures 182 can be formed in the coupler body 181 forreceiving the mechanical code pins 114. The coupler housing is connectedto a coupler ring 190 that is engageable with the receiver 110 toconnect the coupler 180 to the receiver 110, as will be explained indetail herein. The coupler ring 190 can be received in a recess 184 thatis defined by the coupler body 181. A shoulder 186 can be formed withinthe recess 184.

As best shown in FIGS. 11-12, the coupler ring 190 can define a centralopening 192, wherein at least a portion of the receiver 110 is adaptedto be received within the central opening 192 of the coupler ring 190.The central opening 192 is defined in part by an annular wall 194 thatextends around the central opening 192. One or more annular projections196 extend inward from the annular wall 194 toward a radial center ofthe central opening 192. The annular projections 196 are adapted toengage the engaging members 160 of the receiver 110 when the receiver110 is connected to the coupler 180. The annular projections 196 definea ring having a minimum inside diameter that is complementary to theoutside diameter of the cylindrical wall 138 of the receiver housing130. The ring defined by the annular projections 196 is interrupted byopenings 198 that are formed by or disposed between adjacent pairs ofthe annular projections 196 to allow the posts 146 of the receiverhousing 130 to move past the annular projections 196 when the receiver110 and the coupler 180 are moved to the connected position. Theopenings 198 may be structures such as slots, gaps, or other types ofopenings.

As shown in FIG. 15, the openings 198 of the coupler ring 190 may beevenly spaced radially around the annular wall 194 at angles θ1, whereθ1 is equal to 90 degrees. As used herein, evenly spaced radially meansthat the angular spacing between all adjacent pairs of openings 198 isthe same, as measured with respect to the radial center of the centralopening 192. As shown in FIG. 16, an alternative coupler ring 390includes a central opening 392, an annular wall 394, annular projections396, and openings 398 a, 398 b, 398 c, and 398 d, which are all similarto corresponding parts of the coupler ring 190, except that the openings398 a, 398 b, 398 c, and 398 d are not evenly spaced radially around theannular wall 394. This uneven radial spacing prevents installation ofthe coupler and receiver at an incorrect angular orientation, since theposts 146 would be arranged in correspondence with the locations of theopenings 398 a, 398 b, 398 c, and 398 d and would engage the couplerring 190 to prevent incorrect installation. In the illustrated example,opening 398 a is spaced from opening 398 b by angle θ1, where θ1 isequal to 90 degrees, opening 398 a is spaced from opening 398 c by angleθ1, opening 398 a is spaced from opening 398 b by angle θ1, where θ1 isequal to 90 degrees, opening 398 c is spaced from opening 398 d by angleθ2, where θ2 is equal to 80 degrees, and opening 398 b is spaced fromopening 398 d by angle θ3, where θ3 is equal to 100 degrees. As usedherein, unevenly spaced radially means that the angular spacing betweenat least one adjacent pair of openings 398 a-d is not the same as theangular spacing between at least one other adjacent pair of openings 398a-d, as measured with respect to the radial center of the centralopening 392.

When the coupler 180 is moved into the engaged position with respect tothe receiver 110, the receiver housing 130 enters the central opening192 of the coupler ring 190. The coupler ring 190 engages the bearingretainer 170, thereby moving the bearing retainer 170 from its extendedposition to its retracted position during movement of the coupler 180toward the receiver 110. Once the bearing retainer 170 is no longerpositioned adjacent to the apertures 144, the biasing force of thecompression spring 152 moves the piston downward away from the receiverhousing 130, and the resulting engagement of the second engagementsurfaces 159 of the piston 150 with the engaging members 160 forces theengaging members 160 outward with respect to the receiver housing 130through the apertures 144. As best seen in FIG. 5, this places theengaging members 160 into engagement with the annular projections 196 ofthe coupler ring 190 while the engaging members 160 are held in place byengagement with the first engaging surfaces 158, 159 of the piston 150.While the engaging members 160 are held in engagement with the couplerring 190 by the piston 150, the coupler 180 is locked in the engagedposition with respect to the receiver 110. As previously described, inorder to disengage the coupler 180 with respect to the receiver 110, thelever 116 is moved to the released position, thereby compressing thecompression spring 152, which allows the engaging members 160 to moveinto the receiver housing 130 in response to a camming action that isapplied to the engaging members 160 by the wedge-like profile of theannular projections 196 of the coupler ring 190 under the influence ofthe bearing retainer 170 and the biasing element 172, which urges thecoupler 180 away from the engaged position with respect to the receiver110 once the engaging members 160 are free to move into the receiverhousing 130.

As best shown in FIGS. 13-14, the damper 210 resists motion. In theillustrated example, motion of a damper piston that includes the pistonrod 212 and a piston head 214 is resisted by passing a fluid throughports including a first group of ports 230 and a second group of ports232. The piston rod 212 and the piston head 214 can be integrally formedor separately formed and connected in a fixed relationship. The ports ofthe first group of ports 230 and second group of ports 232 are definedin the piston head 214, which is fixed to the piston rod 212. The firstgroup of ports 230 and second group of ports 232 each allow fluid toflow past the piston head 214 as the piston head 214 moves axially.

The damper 210 includes a damper housing 216 that defines an interiorspace 217. The damper housing 216 may be a hollow cylindrical member andmay be referred to as a damper cylinder. Fluid is disposed within theinterior space 217 to resist axial movement of the piston head 214within the interior space 217. In one implementation, the fluid is agas. In another implementation, the fluid is a liquid such as an oil.The damper housing 216 includes a closed end and an open end. A sealassembly is disposed in the open end of the damper housing 216. The sealassembly includes a seal body 218 with an aperture 220. The piston rod212 extends through the aperture. The seal assembly also includes afirst sealing ring 222 and a second sealing ring 224. The first sealingring 222 engages the damper housing 216 and the seal body 218. Thesecond sealing ring engages the seal body 218 and the piston rod 212,and is retained on the seal body by a retainer ring 226.

A bore 228 at the closed end of the damper housing 216 can be used toconnect the damper 210 to the piston 150 by a conventional fastener suchas a screw.

The damper 210 is configured to resist motion of the piston 150 awayfrom the receiver housing 130 under the influence of the biasing element152. Thus, after the lever 116 is moved to the release position, therebycompressing the biasing element 152 and moving the piston 150 toward thereceiver housing 130, the piston 150 and the lever 116 do notimmediately return to the locked position. Instead, movement of thepiston 150 away from the receiver housing 130 occurs slowly, at a ratedetermined by the force applied by the biasing element 152 and theconfiguration of the ports in the piston head 214. As a result, thelever 116 need not be manually held in the release position while thecoupler 180 is removed from the receiver 110. Instead, after the lever116 is moved to the release position, there is a time period in whichthe coupler 180 will be removable, until the movement of the piston 150causes the engaging members 160 to re-engage the coupler ring 190.During this time, the coupler 180 can be supported with respect to thereceiver 110 by the elongate hook 188 and the elongate flange 118.

The damper 210 can be configured to resist motion of the piston 150toward the receiver housing 130 to a lesser degree than it resistsmotion of the piston 150 away from the receiver housing 130. Forexample, the first group of ports 230 can include one or more portshaving a smaller aggregate area than that of one or more ports from thesecond group of ports 232. A valve member 234 is provided to block thesecond group of ports while the piston rod 212 of the damper 210 movesin response to motion of the piston 150 away from the receiver housing130. This slows the rate of fluid flow through the piston head 214 andthus slows the piston 150. The valve member 234 does not block thesecond group of ports 232 when the piston 150 is moving toward thereceiver housing 130, to provide less restriction in this direction. Forexample, the valve member 234 can be a rubber flap that extends aroundthe piston rod 212, is seated against the piston head 214, and is heldin place by a retainer ring 236. As fluid flows from the side of thepiston head 214 on which the valve member 234 is provided, the valvemember 234 covers the ports of the second group of ports 232 and thefluid flows past the piston head 214 through the first group of ports230 but not through the second group of ports 232, because the secondgroup of ports 232 is obstructed by the valve member 234 while the firstgroup of ports 230 is not obstructed by the valve member 234. As fluidflows from the side of the piston head 214 opposite the valve member234, the valve member 234 is moved away from the piston head 214 byfluid pressure to open the ports of the second group of ports 232, andthe fluid flows past the piston head 214 through the first group ofports 230 and the second group of ports 232, because the first group ofports 230 and the second group of ports 232 are not obstructed by thevalve member 234.

In operation, the coupler 180 is manually connected to the receiver 110by an operator (i.e. a person). The operator aligns the coupler 180 withthe receiver 110 and then slightly angles the coupler 180 upward whilehooking the elongate hook 188 of the coupler 180 onto the elongateflange 118 of the receiver 110. After the elongate hook 188 is engagedwith the elongate flange 118, the operator rotates the coupler 180downward toward axial alignment with the receiver 110. During thismotion, the coupler ring 190 of the coupler 180 engages the bearingretainer 170 and moves the bearing retainer 170 into the channel 142 ofthe receiver housing 130 by compressing the biasing element 172. As thecoupler ring 190 passes the engaging members 160, the engaging members160 are forced outward by the piston 150, which is urged away from thereceiver housing 130 by the compression spring 152. The engaging members160 are held in engagement with the interior of the coupler ring 190 bythe force applied to the engaging members 160 by the piston 150 to lockthe coupler 180 to the receiver 110.

When the operator wishes to release the coupler 180 from the receiver110, the operator first pivots the lever 116 toward the coupler 180 tothe release position of the lever 116. This moves the piston 150 towardthe receiver housing 130 by compressing the compression spring 152 andreleasing the force applied to the engaging members 160 by the piston150. When the operator releases the lever 116, the spring force appliedto the piston 150 by the compression spring 152 urges the piston 150away from the receiver housing toward the locked position, but thismotion is slowed by the damper 210. Thus, the operator need not hold thelever 116 while removing the coupler 180 from the receiver 110. Beforethe piston 150 causes the engaging members 160 to re-engage the couplerring 190, the operator pivots the coupler 180 upward slightly todisengage the coupler ring 190 from the bearing retainer 170, so thatthe bearing retainer 170 can hold the engaging members in the receiverhousing 130. The operator then lifts the coupler 180 from the receiver110 to disengage the elongate hook 188 of the coupler 180 from theelongate flange 118 of the receiver 110.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainembodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intendedto cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements includedwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which scope is to beaccorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A coupler for a modular tooling apparatus,comprising: a body having a recess formed therein; a coupling memberseated within the recess of the body, the coupling member defining afirst ring with a first annular wall defining a central opening; annularprojections that extend inward from the first annular wall in a radialdirection toward a radial center of the central opening so as to definea second ring located concentrically with respect to the first ring,whereby outer radial surfaces of the annular projections are coplanarwith the first annular wall, each annular projection defining athickness that decreases in the radial direction; and openings locatedbetween adjacent pairs of the annular projections such that the secondring includes an interrupted configuration.
 2. The coupler of claim 1,wherein the openings are evenly radially spaced around the centralopening.
 3. The coupler of claim 1, wherein the openings are unevenlyradially spaced around the central opening.
 4. The coupler of claim 1,wherein the first annular wall includes a substantially uniformconfiguration and the second ring includes a second annular wall with asubstantially uniform configuration.
 5. The coupler of claim 1, whereinthe openings may comprise gaps.
 6. The coupler of claim 1, wherein thebody has at least one mechanical code pin connected to and extendingfrom the body.
 7. The coupler of claim 1, wherein the body has aperturesformed therein and is adaptable to receive guide pins from a receiver.8. The coupler of claim 1, wherein the body is connectable to a toolingassembly, and the coupling member is connectable to a receiver.
 9. Thecoupler of claim 1, wherein a hook is connected to and extends from thebody.
 10. The coupler of claim 1, wherein the openings may compriseslots.
 11. The coupler of claim 1, wherein the openings may comprisegaps.
 12. The coupler of claim 1, wherein the body has at least onemechanical code pin connected to and extending from the first side ofthe body wherein the at least one mechanical code pin is adaptable to bereceived by corresponding apertures in a receiver.
 13. The coupler ofclaim 1, wherein the body has at least one aperture formed therein andis adaptable to receive guide pins from a receiver.
 14. The coupler ofclaim 1, wherein the second side of the body is connectable to a toolingassembly, and the coupling member on the first side of the body isconnectable to a receiver.
 15. The coupler of claim 1, wherein a hook isconnected to and extends from the body and is adaptable to receive aflange on a receiver.
 16. A coupler for a modular tooling apparatus,comprising: a body having a first side and a second side wherein arecess is formed in the first side of the body and defines a steppedaperture extending through the body from the first side to the secondside; a coupling member complementarily seated within the recess andconnected to the body, the coupling member including a first annularring with a substantially cylindrical, central opening extending along alongitudinal axis of the coupling member; a second annular ringextending inwardly from the first annular ring, the second annular ringincluding projections that extend toward a center of the central openingand taper away from the first side toward the second side of the bodysuch that each projection defines a thickness that decreases along thelongitudinal axis of the coupling member in the radial direction,whereby each projection includes a wedge-like profile; and openingslocated between adjacent pairs of the projections.
 17. The coupler ofclaim 16, wherein the openings are evenly radially spaced around thecentral opening.
 18. The coupler of claim 16, wherein the openings areunevenly radially spaced around the central opening.
 19. A couplerconnectable to a receiver of a modular tooling apparatus, comprising: abody having a first side and a second side wherein a recess formed inthe first side of the body defines a stepped aperture extending throughthe body from the first side to the second side wherein the recess has alarger diameter than the remaining portion of the aperture and whereinthe aperture is adaptable to receive a tooling assembly on the secondside of the body; a coupler ring matingly received within the recess andconnected to the body, and the coupler ring having a substantiallycylindrical, central opening defined in part by an annular wall thatextends around the central opening; wedge-like projections that extendinward from the annular wall in a radial direction so as to define aninner ring located concentrically within the central opening, thewedge-like projections tapering away from the first side toward thesecond side of the body such that each wedge-like projection defines athickness that decreases in the radial direction; openings locatedbetween adjacent pairs of the wedge-like projections adaptable toreceive the receiver from the first side of the body; at least oneaperture formed in the body adaptable to receive guide pins from thereceiver on the first side of the body; and at least one mechanical codepin connected to and extending from the first side of the body whereinthe at least one mechanical code pin is adaptable to be received bycorresponding apertures in the receiver.
 20. The coupler of claim 19,wherein a hook is connected to and extends from the body and isadaptable to receive a flange on the receiver.